ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – An Islamabad court has convicted three men, including a Chinese national, in an online and electronic fraud case and sentenced each of them to a total of seven years in prison.
Senior Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman announced the verdict on Thursday.
The court convicted Chinese national Bai Xiaoming, Nauman Abid Malik and Hasnain Mahmood. Nine other Pakistani and foreign accused linked to the case were declared proclaimed offenders, while Zhou Qingliang, Shehzada Ayaz Latif and Hamza Shehnawaz were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
Under Section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code, the three convicts were sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment each and fined Rs50,000 each.
The court also sentenced each convict to another two years in prison under Section 14 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, and imposed fines of Rs200,000 each.
According to the court findings reported in the case, an Islamabad resident, Haris Ahmed Sheikh, was defrauded of approximately Rs19.39 million through what was presented as an online investment opportunity.
The prosecution case involved an allegedly fake Facebook advertisement using the name and branding of Barclays Bank. According to the court findings, the bank’s identity and that of a purported chief executive named “Will Thomson” were misused as part of the scheme.
The operation allegedly used WhatsApp groups and a fraudulent application to persuade the complainant to transfer money.
According to the judgment as reported, the complainant was initially encouraged to invest Rs12,000 and received Rs900 as a purported return, a transaction the court found was used to build his confidence before larger amounts were sought.
The court further found that more than Rs2.5 million was transferred to and withdrawn from an account linked to Hasnain Mahmood within 14 days.
It also found that accounts associated with Nauman Abid Malik’s company, New Gates Technologies, and Chinese national Bai Xiaoming’s company, BXM International, were used in connection with the fraudulent transactions.
The convictions represent the trial court’s findings and remain subject to any legal remedies, including appeals, available to the convicted individuals under Pakistani law.